Friday, June 29, 2012

Tonight we celebrate the end of Hannah's single-ness!! :) That's right.. it's bachelorette party time!!!!!

We will be owning Southlake Town Center for the night... so watch out!! It's gonna be cray cray (crazy for my grandmothers who read this, ha!) I mainly can't wait for the stories, laughter, and fellowship of a group of girls that love and support Hannah through anything. Love you sister!

Monday, June 18, 2012

So I explained my main summer goal in my latest post... however, BvB is not my only summer adventure!

I have a few other (sport related) goals as well! When I added coaching to my list of things, I didn't realize how much I would cut back on my own work outs! I was lucky to get in 1 workout a week... yet alone 3 or 4! Due to my practices being after school I had to cut Jay Johnson out of my life. I still receive his emails and remain hopeful that one day I can begin training with him again.... believe me, this face -- still scares the heck outta me!!! (Although he did always smell good.. I give him that, but holy cow.. he can yell!!!)

Anyway, my other goals are simple.

For my second year in a row I am playing on the teacher softball team. Now, everyone probably knows I am athletic... but I never played softball, ever. Last summer was my first attempt. I also do not like doing anything that I am not good at (probably why I never played), and by good at I definitely mean, excelling. So my softball goal this year is to get a hit. A real, true hit... not my infield singles that I just use my speed to beat out the throw. Yes, I know all that matters is that I get on base.... but I want a hit!! I want to use my bat to send a ball to the outfield. That is it!

My second goal is a little more challenging. I want to use this summer to get back in shape. BvB is helping with this, but that's still only one practice on Sunday night. Towards the end of school I heard something one of the high school coaches challenges their incoming freshman to do: run 100 miles during the summer. That's when I got the crazy idea of "if they can do it, so can I!" Do you know how hard it is to motivate yourself to run some days? (I bet a lot of you actually do... but still) I am a master procrastinator (like right now!). I convinced myself that writing this blog (which I've been meaning to do for days) is way more important than going to run... and after this, watching the bachelorette is waaaay more important than going to run! However, I am doing it!!! Last week I ran 6 miles.. I know, not a lot.. but you have to start somewhere! Also, to clarify: by run, I mean run/walk. I do not need to be able to run 10 miles at a time; I'm playing football this summer, not training for a half-marathon (maybe next summer). So I've been training with sprint intervals. I've been specifically using this one and I'm already at the point where I've bumped the speeds up 0.5 because this one was getting too easy!

And when I feel like quitting I remind myself that a "workout is a personal triumph over laziness and procrastination".

Thursday, June 14, 2012

I have the most incredible opportunity this summer and that is to participate in a wonderful organization. It's an organization that supports one of the best causes I could dream to be a part of: Alzheimer's. Blondes vs Brunettes work with the Alzheimer's Association of Dallas. The money we will raise this summer go towards research as well as supporting families that currently have someone suffering from the disease. Obviously this disease is very close to me as both of my grandfathers have died from a dementia disease. I believe that furthering research in Alzheimer's will help research with all dementia disease's. That is why I have committed to raising $1,000 this summer for the Alzheimer's Association. When I raise this amount, I will be allowed to play in the powderpuff game on August 11th at the Cotton Bowl. Our Brunette team began practices last week and we are ready to dominate!! However, the blondes and brunettes both want to dominate Alzheimer's. Below is the link to my fundraising page, I would appreciate any, and all, support! :) A $25 donation will get you a ticket to the game and the after party and I would love to see a ton of people there for me! Please feel free to pass on to other family members and friends!

Monday, June 11, 2012

I had the most amazing time in Washington D.C. It was nothing like I
could have imagined. Everything was so much larger and more grand than
I expected. It was all so beautiful. I kept notes from everyday... some
serious, some not so serious - enjoy!

Monday:
DC has really weird intersections.. more merging lanes with stoplights rather than intersections.
There
is nothing that gets me like a uniformed officer playing TAPS. The tomb
of the unknown soldier changing of the guards ceremony was incredible.
The White House was the one place that looked exactly like I imagined. It was beautiful.
The Jefferson Memorial had the most gorgeous view of the Washington monument.
There were the prettiest hydrangeas everywhere - in the most magnificent periwinkle and light pink colors.

Tuesday:
The
intricacy of the memorials are amazing to me. So much thought is put
into each one of them (exactly how it should be, but still so cool).
The number of steps means something, the number of columns on the
buildings, the way Lincoln's hands are shaped on him - I loved hearing
exactly what they meant.
The number of statues around the city
is astounding. There are so many! Our tour guide told us the bronze
ones normally cost around 250,000, while the marble statues cost about
500,000!!! Wow.
There was this incredible DSW that was close to
our hotel that was two stories!!.... but it was too far to walk. Trust
me.. if it was within a mile, I would have walked no question.

Wednesday:
Mt
Vernon - George did it right when it came to his view of the Potomac
River. Stunning. The staff there was also completely not accommodating
to large groups... and the sponsors got a lecture from the people who
worked there, but George's view was awesome.
Pentagon Memorial - One of my favorites. At dusk, lights come on in the water underneath the benches and its beautiful.
Boat
Cruise on the Potomac - I "wobbled" (a dance) with my kids and when one
boy from another school started flirting with one of my girls, I
instantly became her "mother." I, obviously, called her my child for
the rest of the trip.

Thursday:
Monticello -
Amazing artifacts. Thomas Jefferson's house was so modern for back
then!! He was so smart and his house was probably my favorite of the
entire trip. Seriously, so cool.
Miche's Tavern - We had the most
amazing fried chicken, cole slaw, black eyed peas, green beans, mashed
potatoes, cornbread, and peach cobbler!!!
I loved the fountains
and the FDR memorial. Maybe I favor them because of all the fountains
at Baylor... but I loved these fountains at FDR. With the sun setting,
and the sound of the water, and the fireflies in the nearby woods - it
was awesome.
In DC actual shopping malls serve as much more than
just a place to pick up a new sweater or dress. They are metro stations
and it's not uncommon to see someone walking around with luggage and a
pillow! It was so weird. I also had the most awkward interaction with a
mall kiosk guy, if you want the story.. ask me in person. It's much
better when I can show you exactly how it went down.

Friday:
We had breakfast at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was so fun!
Ford's Theater - It's amazing to think that Lincoln was sitting right there when he was shot.
Smithsonian
Museums - They were all really awesome, but I'm not gonna lie by this
point in the day I had hit a wall and was ready to go home!!

I
could have spent 10 days in DC, but am still recovering and trying to
catch up on sleep. I loved it all and if you have not ever been, I
highly recommend you go!!
(My pictures won't load right now so stay tuned for pictures to go with the days!)

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Today I had the best "Daddy and Me" day! I hung out with my dad all day and we just did everything we love to do.

Adventure #1: Midway Regional Airport Air ShowI got my love of planes from my dad who got his love of planes from his dad, my Pappy! I am just so fascinated with all the different types of planes. Allow me a nerdy moment to say I just love the mathematics and physics that lets these huge machines fly in the air!!! This was my favorite plane of the day! It looked so awesome, especially flying through the air!

'Merica. Heck yeah.

Adventure of the Day #2: Gliders

My dad knows of this place where sometimes there are gliders flying. We decided it was pretty windy, so after the airshow we'd just go see if they were out. We hit the jackpot! We stayed at the Texas Soaring Association for over an hour watching multiple gliders take off and land. The people were so friendly and we did a lot of talking. I learned so much about gliders and exactly how they work! I even learned from my dad that my Pappy was trained in flying gliders; he never flew them in WWII, but he was trained in them! I learn something new every day!

This was Bruce's glider! It was an older model and close to 50 years old! The first time in flew was in the 1960's and has won 2 National Championships.

Adventure #3: Abandoned and Stranded

So my dad has been telling me about this amazing abandoned barn he has found. It is beautiful, has 15 enormous stalls, and shower! It's so strange that it's completely abandoned. We walked around and when we were ready to leave.... my dad's car wouldn't start!!! ha So we got to hang out in the barn a lot longer while I rationed out my left over ice cubes in my diet coke drink!

Adventure #4: Hole in the Wall BBQMy dad and I love to try new food places, but we especially love little hole in the wall places. There's just something about ma and pa places that make me love my life! This little bbq place doesn't even have places to sit inside. There are park benches outside though! It was in Maypearl, Tx and my chopped beef sandwich was fantastic!

So it was an eventful, but wonderful day with my dad. I will always cherish days like these!